What Makes or Breaks Us
by ohmytheon
Summary: When Riza and her daemon Wojciech disagree with Roy's decision to meet with a kidnapper alone and unarmed, Wojciech decides to go to some pretty hefty measures to keep Roy and his daemon safe.


**Author's Notes:** Like all my fic prompts, this got way larger than I intended. It was also supposed to be funnier than this, but uh well then, you all know me.

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing except my OCs.

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 **What Makes or Breaks Us**

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It wasn't often that Roy had an absolutely terrible idea. Sure, some of them could be sketchy at best and there were plenty of times that she disagreed with him on how he handled things, but at the end of the day, he was brilliant at what he did and she trusted him. Besides, any idea of his couldn't be that awful if Shula agreed with it and thought it the best course of action. Shula was at least a little more level-headed than her human.

Or so Riza thought.

"If you think I'm going to let you go alone to speak with Howard," Riza proclaimed upon throwing open the door of his interior office, "then you have another thing coming."

Roy swiveled around in his chair, seemingly unconcerned with her rather melodramatic entrance. He didn't say anything either, merely arching an eyebrow when she didn't move to shut the door to give them privacy like she normally did whenever they had a disagreement. Shula didn't even bother getting up to her feet, choosing to continue lounging on the ground next to his desk, her head resting on her large paws.

Behind her, Wojciech huffed in irritation. It was one thing to be ignored by Roy, but quite another for Shula to join in on it. More level-headed she might be most of the time, but she was just as stubborn as him.

"He's too dangerous," Riza continued, "and his demands are too high."

"The man is holding a General hostage," Roy pointed out coolly. "I think he's allowed to have high demands."

Riza slammed her hands down on his desk. "Not this much!"

Roy peered up at her. How long had it been since she had shown outright insubordination? If she did argue with him or disagree with one of his orders, it was at least always in private. Now though, the entire team was able to hear and watch from the exterior office. Even if three of them were doing a good job in pretending to be doing something, Havoc wasn't trying at all. She didn't give a damn about them. They didn't like the plan either, but there was no fighting with Roy when he got like this.

"It's one thing to demand a meeting with you to negotiate General Nelson's release completely unarmed," Riza declared, glaring down at him. "But quite another to demand you come alone as well."

"In his defense," Roy deadpanned, grinning up at her, "if I brought you with me, then I wouldn't be unarmed."

When Riza couldn't find the words in her to yell back at him, Wojciech stepped forward, frustration flowing freely between them like a fire. "How can you act so cavalier about this? You're just going to give them another hostage!"

"If that does happen, I have full faith in you and the team rescuing us," Roy responded.

Wojciech scoffed and shook his head. "Do this and see if we'll come rescue your stupid asses."

At such a crude response, Shula opened an eye to look up at Wojciech. Even Roy looked mildly surprised as his eyebrows raised. Riza didn't flinch. While she could count on her hand how many times she had sworn, Wojciech wasn't so bothered by it, though he very rarely swore as well. He only did when he was incredibly worked up. It appeared as if the idea of Roy and Shula willingly throwing themselves into a dangerous situation qualified that.

"As it stands," Roy said as he stood up from his seat to meet her eye-to-eye, "the decision is both final and not up to you."

His words felt like a slap in the face, but Riza didn't back down. It wasn't often that Roy was short like this with her. He genuinely liked hearing her input on missions. But now he was acting careless and rude. She didn't look away from him, but she thought that she saw Shula's ears twitch uncomfortably out of the corner of her eyes. She usually berated Roy when he acted like this with Riza, but was choosing to keep her mouth shut now, most likely so that Roy would be able to keep the upper hand in the argument. Being close to him, just a foot away from each other's faces, made Riza want to slap him. How could this man be so brilliant and yet so stupid at the same time?

Unable to find anything else to say short of insubordination, both Riza and Wojciech were left to watch as Roy walked away from his desk to retrieve his black jacket and swing it over his shoulders. "I expect you to be at your station as the mission requires. The man isn't an idiot. He'll know that there will at least be one sniper in the area since I can't bring anyone with me."

Riza gritted in her teeth. Wojciech stayed silent, eyeing Roy much like a wolf might a rabbit.

Shula finally stood up, stretching her body out like a house cat. She gave Wojciech a sideways warning look, which he decidedly ignored, solely focused on Roy as he was. Riza thought that her daemon's silence felt deadly and she knew that something was coming as she felt him close himself off from her. He didn't do that often, only when he was about to do something reckless or dangerous. When he didn't want her to be able to read him, that was when she usually knew to become aware of her surroundings.

Noticing that neither of them had moved or said a word, Roy turned to face them as he put on his cap and gave them a lazily curious look. "Hawkeye? Are you coming or will I be forced to write you up?"

In the time it took for Wojciech to walk up to Roy, Riza didn't move. She didn't blink. She didn't reach out for her daemon with her mind or anything. And she did nothing even as Wojciech stood up on his hind legs, tall as a man and much more imposing, and laid his front paws on Roy's chest, effectively knocking him to the ground. Riza managed to raise her eyebrows as Roy yelped and tumbled onto his backside. Before he could scramble to his feet, however, Wojciech stepped right up and laid right over top of his chest, causing him to choke.

"Wojciech, what in the hell do you think you're doing?" Shula demanded, prowling towards them.

Roy dug his fingers into Wojciech's fur, practically growling, "Get off of me," even as electricity flowed between them. The second Wojciech had settled his paws on Roy, a shiver ran down Riza's spine and forced her to stand up even straighter. It took everything in her to not start panting for air as Roy raked his fingers down Wojciech's back. She squirmed, unable to contain herself, as he grasped hold of her soul tightly. She could feel how much Wojciech was fighting with him, his stubbornness and anger and also his desperation. Roy must have been gasping because of of Wojciech's weight on top of touching the most intimate part of her.

Despite Shula looking ready to tackle Wojciech and Roy tugging on his fur, Wojciech merely turned his head away and laid it down on Roy's thigh. "I'm doing my job."

Shula snorted and straightened up. "Disobeying direct orders-"

"Keeping you safe!" Wojciech interrupted furiously. Fire flashed in his soul due to his contact with Roy. Honestly, Riza couldn't tell if it was from Roy or Shula. She seemed to be made of fire just as much as he was. "You give us the ability to put you into check when needed and then deny us that when we deem it necessary? How many other times? What happens when you put not only yourself at risk but others and you demand that we stand down?" He growled, protective and low, and Riza realized that Wojciech was not only keeping Roy from moving but he was keeping Shula away from him. That was unheard of. "Will you not let us do our jobs?"

Riza was keenly aware that the team could see everything in the interior office. None of them were bothering to hide their curiosity now, although she thought Breda looked distinctly horrified and Falman shocked. All of them had seen instances where Roy and Riza had touched one another's daemons. It was true that such a thing was rare and very telling, but no one on the team talked about it. They were respectful and loyal. If anyone else were to find out, especially a higher up, there was no doubt that Riza would've been taken off Roy's team and away from him, even if there was no actual proof of fraternization. And so no one said anything when Shula laid her head on Riza's lap or Wojciech nudged the back of Roy's legs.

This, however - Wojciech laying right on top of Roy like it was nothing - was something else entirely.

Clearly aggravated, Shula walked over to Riza and physically nudged her forward. "Do something about him. He's being absurd."

When she put her hand on top of Shula's head, Riza tried not to jump. Shula was fire. The feeling of Roy's soul was too hot and soothing at the same time. It always lulled her into a dazed sense of comfort whenever she touched the lion daemon. Warmth seemed to roll over Riza is waves, causing her to close her eyes as she breathed in the feel of Roy's soul in her hands, and she said, "No."

One second Shula was leaning into Riza's touch, the next she jerked away roughly. "No? This is madness and you know it. If there was any other option-"

"We'll find another way," Riza said, opening her eyes to glare at Shula.

"There isn't!" Shula snapped. "Now stand down, Lieutenant, both of you!"

Her tone was so heated and sharp that it startled Riza into taking a step back. Now this was the lion daemon that had other daemons and military officers quivering. Riza could not remember the last time Shula had used that tone on her. She stared back at Shula, who was standing as tall as she could, holding her head up high. Roy had stopped trying to shove Wojciech off of him, his hands still on Wojciech's sides. When Riza glanced at her daemon, she saw that he hadn't moved from his spot on top of Roy, but his eyes glittered darkly.

"We find another way," Wojciech finally said.

Roy's gaze softened, even as he struggled to breath. His hands slide through Wojciech's fur, but instead of trying to shove him off, the touch was gentle, soothing even. Riza could feel his delicate touch rolling over her, urging her to come towards him, as he tried to calm Wojciech down. She was always so in control and stoic; when her soul got riled up, everything threatened to spill out.

"You have to let us do our jobs too," Roy told him. Wojciech lifted his head to look back at Roy. They connected eyes. Not many people or daemons could look Wojciech right in the eyes and not blink or look away. Roy was one of the few to be able to do so. It had been a long time since he'd avoided Wojciech's gaze, not since he had burned Riza's back.

 _You have to let us go,_ were his unspoken words. Riza could hear them though - feel them - through Roy's loving touch.

Wojciech kept Roy's gaze for a beat before turning to look back at Riza. She took a breath and nodded her head. Very carefully, Wojciech moved off of Roy, only causing him to grimace a little. Displeasure throbbed almost painfully through her daemon. He did not like where this was going.

After Roy sat up though, he held out a hand and called out, "Wojciech."

Her wolf heeled and turned back around. He did not acknowledge most of the time when people called out to him, sometimes not even members of the team, depending on his mood. There had only been two times when he had ignored her calling out for him, once when he was attacking another daemon for hassling Fuery's Ada. Curiously, the only two humans that he never ignored were Edward and Alphonse. Seeing him react so quickly to Roy know meant only one thing:

Wojciech felt vulnerable.

Slowly, the wolf daemon padded back and allowed Roy to slide his fingers through his fur behind his head. Roy leaned forward to press his forehead against Wojciech's and both of them closed their eyes. Riza took a deep breath and sighed deeply. She could feel how sorry Roy was, his guilt at putting them through this, his wishes to ease her fear and pain. Shula brushed up against Riza, a ghost of a touch, and her tail swished against her hand at her side. The tension seemed to ease out of them as their souls connected with one another.

"If you two get yourselves killed, so help me," Wojciech grumbled. She could feel it rumble through Roy's chest through his connection with her daemon. Shula stepped up next to them, rubbing against Wojciech. She was bigger than Wojciech, stronger, wilder, and yet in this moment she was softer too.

"You'll be stuck with us a bit longer, I'm afraid," Roy chuckled.

Wojciech pulled back to eye him before slipping back towards Riza. He pressed his snout into her stomach and she dug her fingers into his fur the same way Roy had done. He didn't look up at her. She didn't need him to for her to know how he felt. Frustrated, upset, tired. He didn't like feeling off-balanced like this with nothing to do. She could do little but try to feed him comfort through their bond, but it was difficult when she felt the same way. When she glanced up, she caught eyes with Roy, who had been watching the two of them. He gave her a little lopsided smile as Shula muttered about Wojciech having rumpled his outfit. Riza felt her breath hitch, but she kept her mouth shut. It would have to be enough.


End file.
